Gambit Defeats KRU & Moves on to VCT Grand Finals

In a fierce semifinals battle between two of the strongest teams at the on-going Valorant Champions Tour in Berlin, Gambit defeated KRU Esport by to qualify for the grand finale event.

KRU had worked so hard to keep up their magical run ever since the beginning of the competition. They had brought the winning energy to the beginning of the game when Gambit picked the map Breeze, and KRU quickly slammed them mercilessly and won the first three rounds plus bonus.

Map 1: Breeze

KRU’s NagZ’s was in his element in this beginning encounter. Unlike his slow strides in other series, NagZ approached the first half of Breeze like a beast. He came shooting sporadically at Gambit’s and made 18 kills, which resulted in 5 deaths and gave his team an 8-4 lead.

After wasting a 5v1 advantage that should have turned the series around for them during the pistol round, Gambit managed to swing back on track and equalize, bringing the series to an 8-8 draw before the first full buy.

During the buy round, d3ffo fired some Op shots that changed the game for them. Teaming up with Chronicle, d3ffo fiercely warded off KRU from the site, and dominated them eternally on Breeze, ending the map with a 13-8 scoreline.

Map 2: Accent

Picking their own map seemed to give KRU some initial “home advantage.” Their attack gathered momentum on Accent. Knit and NagZ, playing the Reyna/Jett duel, opened a devastating round that rattled Gambit’s defensive setups and gave KRU a much needed 7-5 lead as the series progressed into halftime.

With no duelist to rely on, Gambit struggled to get on sites while banking on Sova’s arrows Skye’s flashes to initiate. But those guys couldn’t keep up with the pace of destruction that KRU defenders had in stock for them. While playing this defensive position, KRU won six consecutive rounds, ending the Ascent map in a 13-7 win.

Map 3: Bind

Maintaining the momentum from the previous map, KRU warmed up to an early lead on the third map. They defeated Gambit in the early trades, making plants and post-plants unimaginably difficult for them.

Gambit tried to make some attack success, but during the final round of the half, Delz1k unleashed a Brimstone that quickly wrapped things up to an 8-4 lead in favour of KRU. The pistol round also ended in KRU’s favor. Their Sage-Brimstone-Viber comp was able to neutralize Gambit’s defense and solidify their early lead.

Playing in the defensive position gave Gambit some headway. They quickly regained their footing, and before long, KRU’s bragging rights depreciated from a six-round lead to a single round lead.

Poised to not let this victory slip off their fingers, KRU dished out an ultimate spam on B site to push the scores to 11-9 resulting in a Gambit timeout. Gambit’s Chronicle launched an ace, which triggered KRU to push back with a lethal Raze-led thrifty B push, taking the scoreline to 12-10. After all was done, the deciding map staggered to an inevitable overtime.

Overtime

As the series advanced to overtime, Gambit’s D3ffo, fighting with just a sliver of health and his OP, shot a devastating first OT round, preventing the retake on B. KRU gained some momentum on the attack round, but it became a 2v2 post-plant all thanks to a 3K from Redgar.

However, Klaus’ big spray tied it again. Redgar also tried to deliver and clutch, but Klaus wouldn’t let that go through. As the series dragged to a second overtime period, Gambit’s nAts delivered an unexpected A site cleanup and a cheeky Judge lurk.

The third overtime started beautifully for KRU as they took the lead, but a clean 4k from Gambit’s Sheydos turned their fortune bleak. In the beginning of the fourth overtime period, Gambit launched a massive attack round of OT.

Using all the utility and timed peeks they could lay hands on, they took over A site, but KRU also fought back impressively. Gambit, however, missed some shots that inevitably dragged the series to a fifth overtime period.

Gambit maintained the attacking momentum they had initially established, and closed out the map with an 18-16 scoreline, thus qualifying for the championship grand finale event, all thanks to some final minutes of impressive gameplays by Chronicle and nAts.

Gambit will now face off with Acend, who have over their past four games, won eight maps consecutively. Acend has qualified for the finals earlier after they defeated Team Liquid in their semifinals encounter.